The Raikukkon Era of Mutual Killing
by New Era of G
Summary: Sixteen people have gathered in Raikukkon for a very special occasion... Only to find themselves trapped by the deadly Monokuma, who has placed them into a life of mutual killing. Yay, vague description! Rated M for violence. Otherwise, it's fairly safe.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: welcome to Raikukkon, now prepare to die!

"August 27. Usually, that date just means Twin's birthday. A day where we celebrate her and her amazing... Um..."

Darky paused.

"...I don't know why they celebrated her, she's not that likable..."

She shook her head.

"Anyway, this year is different. I have friends now... Who care about me... And want to celebrate me... So... Why the hell am I here?!"

Darky stood at the edge of a city. This was Raikukkon, a bustling port city known for its eccentric citizens.

"Isn't this where Flash and Alicia live? Why did G want me to come here of all places? He better not be listening to Flash's idea or something..." Darky grumbled. "Although... I suppose Flash couldn't have messed up too badly for something like this..."

She went silent for a moment.

"My birthday is usually bad anyway."

She began to trudge toward the city again.

"Darky!"

"Hm?"

A girl with medium length pink hair and green eyes tackled Darky. She hugged Darky tightly. This was Darky's companion Mary, who had the ability to shift between her original form as an exceed and her human form.

"Mary!" Darky laughed happily, hugging her friend.

Behind Mary stood a very tall man in heavy silver armor. This was Ban, Mary's boyfriend and one of the member's of Darky's guild. He considered Darky his master due to her status of guildmaster.

"What are you two doing here?" Darky asked, setting Mary down.

"We're here for you, silly!" Mary smiled. "Oh! It's time to be there! Hurry up!"

Mary grabbed Darky's wrist and began racing toward the city. Darky could only laugh and smile.

"Maybe... This can be a good birthday after all!"

It seemed like a dream... No, like it was becoming a dream. Darky's eyes slowly closed as her knees buckled, and she crashed to the ground...

"What...?"

Her eyes closed, a sweet scent finally registering in her brain.

-zzz-

Darky's eyes slowly opened. She was in a dark room with a TV screen on one wall. She pushed herself up, hearing groans as others began to stand. She squinted and made out a total of fourteen people other than her. Mary stirred from beside her.

"Darky... Where are we...?"

"Darky?!"

One of the figures across the room stepped forward, allowing Darky to make her out.

"Toxic?!" Darky gasped. "What are you doing here?!"

"...Ehehe... Not sure where 'here' is, to be truthful..." Toxic responded, rubbing the back of her head. "Was this part of plan...?"

"No, it was not," Flash said firmly, stepping forward as well.

"Bruh... What is this?!" Alicia growled, also moving forward.

The room became noisy as the other people started to move closer and debate about what was going on. Darky recognized that other than herself, Mary, and Ban, her friends Toxic, Alicia, Flash, Alicia's twin sister Alexis, Flash's intern Colette, a big crab that Darky recognized to be from Flash's crew, and a woman that Darky recalled Alicia being around. Then, Darky noticed two other people that she recognized. Her guildmate Kisuke stood to the side. He was muscular and had a special way of dressing. His dark brown hair had many red streaks and at either end was completely dyed red and styled up into fox ears. His teeth had been sharpened into fangs and some were colored red. He wore nothing above his waist, and below it was the bottom half of a fox cosplay. He was whispering soothingly to his girlfriend, Kyra. Kyra had very long pink hair and purple eyes. She sat in her wheelchair, whispering and looking worried. Sitting in a corner was a young boy with blond hair that Darky didn't recognize, and whispering in another corner were two cloaked figures. Darky then noticed something much more important.

"...what the hell is this?!" She yelled.

This caught everyone's attention. Darky was holding up her right arm, revealing a black bracelet around her wrist that was counting down to something. They all checked their arms to find similar bracelets.

"These are..." Toxic murmured, seemingly recognizing them. "But...!"

"Upupupupupu!"

Darky and Toxic instantly froze.

"No..." Toxic whispered. "No, no, n-"

"Yep, it's me, your friendly neighborhood Monokuma!"

The screen lit up, showing the image of the monochrome robotic bear.

"Alicia, is this a prank?" Flash asked his girlfriend, his tone stiff.

"I'm not doing anything... Monokuma! The hell are you doing?!" Alicia yelled. "I'm the mastermind behind you, now-"

"YOU? The mastermind behind ME?! Sorry, but according to the official Monokuma operating laws, it requires brain cells to be a mastermind! Upupupupupu!" Monokuma laughed.

"Why you fu-" Alicia began.

"What is the meaning of this?" Colette cut in. "If Alicia isn't doing this, then who is...? And will you quit joking around, please? We all have somewhere to be..."

"Telling you would ruin the game, Upupupupupu~!" Monokuma laughed.

"We won't play your sick game!" Toxic suddenly yelled, slamming her hand against a wall. "We're all friends! We'd never do that to each other!"

"I don't believe I understand what's happening..." The crab spoke up.

"Bruh. Me neither," the girl next to Alicia spoke up.

"If you wouldn't mind telling me... What's going on..." The little boy in the corner spoke up nervously.

Mary, Ban, and Kyra joined in the chatter of questions. Darky noticed the taller cloaked figure slip out of the room.

"What's going on? It's quite simple, ya know! I'm Monokuma, your mayor!" Monokuma exclaimed cheerfully. "And now, you bastards... Are gonna kill each other!"

The entire room went silent for a moment as they stared in shock at the monitor.

"This IS some kind of joke... Right?" The girl beside Alicia spoke up.

"We would never kill each other!" Toxic repeated angrily.

"Is that so?" Monokuma laughed. "Well..."

The wall beside Toxic suddenly exploded, throwing everyone on that side of the room to the ground.

"Behold! The beautiful city of Raikukkuon!"

Flash, who had hurried over and begun to help Toxic up, froze.

Raikukkon's formerly bustling streets were now deserted. An eerie silence filled the city.

"Where did everyone go...?" Colette gasped.

"Bruh..." Alicia murmured. "This isn't... Real, right...? We couldn't have been knocked out for long..."

Darky saw shock and worry play in Mary's eyes. Kyra gripped Kisuke's hand tightly.

"Upupupupupu! Now that this is all cleared out... It will be your colosseum! Ready, gladiators?"

Toxic looked up at Flash, who was staring at the city in cold silence.

"Flash..."

"Monokuma... What did you do to my city...?" Flash murmured, clenching his fists.

"You're about to clash, hope on hope! I've made a special set of rules, so listen carefully!" Monokuma laughed.

"Where is everyone?!" Flash growled. "Monokuma!"

"The first rule..."

"Monokuma! Where are all the citizens of Raikukkon!" Flash yelled.

There was silence.

"...right. You'll have to win the game to find out! Don't worry, I'm only interested in the players of the game dying! Just so you know... There were sixteen players at the start!"

"What does that mean?!" Flash growled.

"There were fifteen people in the room when we woke up," Darky spoke.

Everyone looked to her.

"...what?" Flash asked.

"There were only... Fifteen..."

"Upupupupupupu! That's right! And all of the current players of the game are in the room to hear the rules!" Monokuma giggled.

"You're not saying..." Toxic murmured.

"One of us... Murdered someone...?" Kyra whispered.

"That's..." Mary murmured.

"One of us... Did all of this..." Flash said.

"Bae..." Alicia said in concern, heading over to Flash.

"Alicia, this really isn't a prank?" Colette asked sternly.

"Bruh! I swear!"

"Ahem! As I was saying, the rules..." Monokuma chimed. "First of all! Those bracelets you're wearing... They contain two kinds of poison! The first is a sleeping poison, and the second is a killing poison! If you try to leave the city, or remove the bracelet... You'll get injected with the killing poison!"

"That much is obvious," Toxic snapped.

"This is really... Happening...?" Colette gasped.

"Next! The timer on those bracelets... When it runs out, you will fall asleep! Except for one of you... The traitor who set up the killing game. They will not be injected. They have a set amount of time to kill exactly one of you during the time you're all asleep!"

Everyone looked shocked.

"What?! What kind of mutual killing game is this?!" Toxic yelled.

"One of us... Is a traitor?" Flash murmured. "One of us... Did all this...?"

"Upupupupupu! I told you, it's some special rules for a special occasion!" Monokuma laughed.

"What the hell kind of sicko teddy bear are you?!" Mary yelled.

"I'm Monokuma!" Monokuma chortled.

Darky glared hostilely at him.

"The game is won when either all but one person is dead, or you all are put to sleep and everyone wakes up alive! Yay!" Monokuma cheered.

"I don't understand what's going on..." Toxic mumbled. "This doesn't... Make sense..."

"Finally, the third rule!" Monokuma said. "Forbidden actions! Each of you, look at your bracelets! There's an action you're not supposed to commit! If you commit it... You die from the poison!"

Toxic looked at her own bracelet.

GO ABOVE THE GROUND FLOOR OF ANY BUILDINGS

The participants all looked shocked as they read their forbidden actions. Alicia covered her mouth.

"Well, that's it! Have a fun life of mutual killing, everyone! Upupupupupupupu!"

The screen went off.

"I guess... August 27 is truly a day of bad luck..." Darky murmured.

"What a simple game."

The remaining cloaked figure stepped forward to the center of the room.

"This isn't complicated at all! All I have to do..."

He threw off his cloak to reveal a young man in his twenties with scruffy blond hair and green eyes. He had a sword in hand.

"...is kill every single one of you who might be the traitor! Sorry... But good night!"

 **Participants remaining: 15 of 16.**

 **A/N: why am I posting this when I was supposed to do a lot of other fic stuff? Because it's a birthday present to a friend! Happy birthday Darky, here's a fic of everyone you like dying!**

 **Hm? Why did I do it before the birthday itself? Because there are multiple chapters! Yaaaaaaay!**

 **Think you have guesses to who will die next chapter, or who is the traitor, or anything?! Review! I love reviews! Yaaaaaaaaaaay!**

 **Have any questions I didn't just address? Review! Yaaaaaaaaay!**

 **Why are you my friend yet I didn't include you in this fic? Ask yourself this: do you WANT to be in this fic?! (Kidding, everyone who was included has a reason to be included. I feel bad for having to cut some people who were included in the initial concept.)**

 **Next chapter: you can run, but you can't hide.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: you can run, but you can't hide.

"All I have to do is kill every single one of you who might be the traitor. Sorry... But good night!"

The boy radiated magic power throughout the room. In a split second after that, a storm of swords shot outward from his hands. They filled the room quickly and headed straight for the other participants.

Darky quickly summoned a sword, preparing to block, but froze at the last moment.

"Darky! Get out of the way!" Mary yelled.

She took a step toward her, then froze and grabbed her bracelet, fear overtaking her face.

Ban suddenly threw Mary over his shoulder and bolted forward. He drew his sword and deflected the weapons heading toward himself and Darky.

"Is something wrong, master?" He asked Darky.

"We have to get out of here," Darky replied, her voice shaking.

She lifted her bracelet up to Mary and Ban, her forbidden action flashing across it.

GET HIT BY A PHYSICAL OR MAGIC ATTACK FROM ANOTHER PARTICIPANT.

Ban instantly nodded and hefted Darky under his arm. He tore off running through the broken wall, deflecting the swords that came their way with his free sword hand.

"Why do I get the low priority seating?!" Mary whined, clinging desperately to Ban's shoulder.

"He doesn't seem to be targeting us," Darky noted.

"Let's get to safety nonetheless," Ban said.

Meanwhile, Kisuke had instantly jumped to Kyra's defense and blocked the swords by summoning up swords of his own. He quickly reached for the handles of Kyra's wheelchair, but she grabbed his wrist and showed him her forbidden action.

"Sorry, Kisuke-Kun... I'm a burden again," Kyra mumbled.

Kisuke shook his head and lifted her out of the wheelchair. He shifted her in his arms and dashed out of the room.

Toxic squeaked and ducked out of the way of the swords.

"Everyone's running... I guess I should too..." She murmured sadly. "We shouldn't be divided like this... To defeat despair, we have to...!"

Toxic jumped aside as another sword shot at her.

"Forget it, I won't last a minute... What am I thinking, I'm not dhe cinnamon ahoge... Eheheh..."

Toxic pulled herself up and tried to run. However, she immediately crashed into the child, sending them both to the ground. He had been hesitating at the edge of the room.

"I- I'm so sorry, miss... I didn't mean to get in the way..." The boy cried.

"What are you waiting for? We have to get out of here!" Toxic snapped back impatiently.

"I- I can't..." The boy sobbed.

"What?! Run!"

"My forbidden action..."

He held up his wrist.

RUN IN THE STREETS.

"..."

Toxic glanced back at the young man with the swords.

"...he wouldn't attack a little kid, would he...?"

He fired a stream of swords straight at them.

"...hang on tight."

Toxic hoisted the child onto her back and dashed into the city, piggyback ride style. She managed to evade the swords.

"Th- thank you, miss..." The boy murmured.

"I don't mind..." Toxic grunted. "You're pretty light..."

"Ehehe..."

"What's your name?" Toxic suddenly asked.

"My name? That's... Dream."

"Dream? That's a different name," Toxic laughed.

"It's weird, isn't it?"

"No better than mine. I'm Toxic. Why are you here, Dream? Do your parents live in Raikukkon?"

"My parents? I'm not sure... To be honest... Beyond my name... I can't remember a single thing before I woke up in that room."

"What?!" Toxic gasped.

"Sorry..." Dream murmured.

"No, it's not... It's okay. It's just a surprising thing to hear... Although, in this situation, I guess it shouldn't be so shocking, eheh... Maybe you're a detective..."

"What makes you say that, Miss Toxic?"

"Nothing, never mind... I'll try to help you get your memory back, Dream."

"Really?!" Dream exclaimed, brightening up.

"Yes, really," Toxic replied, smiling. "But we also have to stop this... Senseless fighting... We have to work together to overcome this mess. I wish everyone else would understand that..."

A hand suddenly shot from around a corner, grabbing Toxic's wrist. Toxic was yanked hard around the corner, throwing her off her feet. Dream slipped from her grasp and hit his head on the wall, blacking out. As he blacked out, he heard a strange sound play...

Back in the room, Flash, Alicia, and their friends desperately blocked and evaded the swords.

"We gotta fight this... This guy!" Alicia yelled.

"Let's kill him!" Alexis agreed.

"Nah fam. Fuck that shit. Let's get the fuck out," the other girl exclaimed.

She grabbed their wrists.

"Monica, what-"

Monica dashed off, dragging them with her.

"Right, retreat is the best idea right now. Colette, Birgus, go after Alicia with me," Flash said.

"I- I can't..." Colette stammered.

Flash turned. Colette was a little ways away from him and Birgus, clutching her right wrist.

"What are you talking about?!" Flash demanded.

His eyes flicked to her wrist.

"Is it your forbidden action? Tell me your forbidden action!"

Colette recoiled.

"N- no... I'm sorry, boss... It would be best if... We... Stayed apart right now..."

She turned and darted off into the streets.

"Colette! Come back here!" Flash yelled, distressed.

Birgus blocked some swords from hitting his captain.

"We should go after her, cap. It isn't safe near this kid," the crab urged.

"We have to get to Colette," Flash replied, panic in his voice.

Birgus allowed Flash to sit on his shoulder and barreled after Colette.

The man stopped generating swords, seeing that everyone left.

"...pah. They ran as soon as they were in danger. Cowards."

His eyes flitted to a tower in the center of Raikukkon.

"...but it doesn't matter. It just makes it easier to single out the traitor..."

-xxx-

Kisuke stopped running after a while and stopped, panting. He glanced around for about five minutes, and when it became clear no one was coming, set Kyra down. He sat beside her.

"Are you alright, Kisuke-kun?" Kyra asked, glancing at him worriedly.

He tapped his bracelet and showed it to her.

"I understand..."

Kyra pushed herself up, and they shared a kiss.

"We'll get through together. It's a promise."

"ATTENTION, PLEASE."

The lovers looked up in shock...

-xxx-

"It's that sword guy's voice," Darky grumbled.

"Which means he isn't chasing us," Ban said, stopping.

-xxx-

"Colette! Colette!" Flash called.

He and Birgus had lost sight of the woman and were now blindly searching.

"Cap'n, we may want to listen..." Birgus said.

"Colette!" Flash yelled, ignoring him.

-xxx-

The man smirked. He was standing in the tower's highest room and had his finger on the button of an intercom system.

"I'M SPEAKING TO YOU FROM THE RAIKUKKON MAYOR'S TOWER USING THE CITYWIDE INTERCOM. HELLO! YOU CAN CALL ME MIRAI.

IT IS IMPERATIVE YOU FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS. AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE ARE IN A KILLING GAME.

OBVIOUSLY, ANY IDIOT CAN TELL THAT A KILLING GAME IS MEANT TO KILL YOU. HOWEVER, THERE IS A WAY TO SURVIVE.

I KNOW A CERTAIN FEW PEOPLE WHO CANNOT POSSIBLY BE THE TRAITOR. EVERYONE ELSE COULD VERY WELL BE THE KILLER. OBVIOUSLY, WE NEED TO KILL THOSE PEOPLE!"

-xxx-

"How does HE know who is or isn't the traitor?" Mary deadpanned. "I'm more suspicious of him than I am of anyone..."

-xxx-

"HOWEVER, THOSE PEOPLE ARE TROUBLESOME! THEY RAN AWAY WHEN I TRIED TO KILL THEM!

IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, YOUR TASK IS SIMPLE...

SACRIFICE THOSE SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE. BRING THEM TO THIS TOWER. I WILL KILL THEM.

BY COOPERATING AND KILLING THESE PEOPLE, WE CAN END THE KILLING GAME!

IN THE MEAN TIME, I WILL BE HUNTING THEM DOWN MYSELF, IN CASE IT IS HARD FOR YOU TO SACRIFICE THEM. LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER!

FOR HOPE!"

The man lifted his finger off the button and checked his bracelet.

"We sure spent a lot of time playing... It's only thirty minutes until we're all put to sleep... I probably won't receive any sacrifices until after the next victim. How sad... It could all be so easily avoided..."

He lounged in the mayor's chair.

"...heh. Guess I'll just go to sleep early..."

-xxx-

"What a lunatic," Mary deadpanned.

"He isn't a threat for now," Ban noted.

"What do we do, Darky?" Mary asked, looking to the other girl.

"We find a place to sleep. A secure place," Darky replied. "It's almost time."

Mary looked at her wrist and sighed.

"...who would do something like this...?"

-xxx-

"Colette!" Flash yelled.

"Cap'n... I hate to say this... But I don't think we're gonna find her right now..." Birgus said.

"Why did she run...? What's going on with her...?" Flash murmured in frustration.

"I'm sure it's nothing, cap'n..."

Realization hit Flash like a truth bullet.

"Does she... Think I'm the traitor?"

"Wha? That's preposterous, cap'n!" Birgus exclaimed.

"No, it's not."

Flash shook his head, his eyes narrowing.

"She refused to show me her forbidden action... She refused to even be near me... I don't think she trusts me... AT ALL... After all... Out of all of us... I know Raikukkon best... And had close access to Monokuma... She doesn't trust me... She thinks I'm the traitor that's going to kill everyone..."

He clenched his fists.

"For the first time... My own crew... Doesn't... Trust me..."

Birgus patted him on the shoulder best he could.

"I still trust ya, cap. I know you're not the traitor."

Flash looked back at him.

"Besides, I promised I'd follow ya anywhere, back when we were kids. I'd never go back on that."

Flash smiled a little. Birgus spotted tears running down his face.

"Don't cry, cap'n..."

"Thanks, Birgus."

Flash wiped his eyes.

"No matter what... I'm your captain... And I will guide you... You and Colette both... I will guide you to victory. In battle, and over despair..."

"I know you will, cap'n. We should find Colette later... It's almost time to sleep right now, and we're sitting ducks here."

"Right. Let's hide out in a house."

-xxx-

Darky checked her bracelet.

"Ten minutes until we're put to sleep. Let's get comfortable."

They had found a residential house with two bedrooms to sleep in. Darky climbed into the bed. Mary hesitated.

"...is something wrong, Mary?" Darky wondered.

"It's just... My forbidden action is..." Mary murmured, moving to show her.

"Oh! Right!"

Darky quickly jumped out of the bed.

"I'll leave you this room, then!"

She darted to the other bedroom.

"...she didn't even look..." Mary murmured, sweatdropping.

"Master cares a lot about Cat," Ban surmised.

Mary smiled softly.

"...yeah. Cat cares a lot about master, too, Ban-Kun."

-xxx-

Birgus walked over to a random house.

"Might as well just..."

He opened the door.

"Ah... Birgus..." Flash said.

"Hm? Something wrong?" Birgus wondered.

Flash was hesitating behind him. In response, Flash held up his right arm and tapped the screen of the bracelet.

ENTER A HOUSE OR ROOM THROUGH A DOORWAY OR WINDOW.

"That's troublesome," Birgus mused. "Very well..."

He put his claws to use and smashed an entrance through the wall of the building.

"That's one way to do it," Flash laughed.

The two walked into the house.

"Looks like the bedrooms are upstairs... Might as well, right?" Flash said, beginning to walk up the stairs.

"Cap'n."

"Hm?"

Flash looked over. Birgus raised his right appendage, revealing his bracelet was dug into his shell. He tapped the screen.

TOUCH A STAIR.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Flash laughed.

Music blared as their bracelets flashed '00:00'.

"It's almost like... Our forbidden actions... Are paired up... To trouble us..."

Flash crumpled to the ground, asleep. Birgus leaned back against the wall, unable to keep his eyes open...

-zzz-

The traitor walked through the broken wall of the building everyone had awoken in. The traitor stood before the TV. It lit up as Monokuma appeared on its screen.

"Upupupupupu! Welcome, attacker! It's the first round! You have two hours to do everything you want... And remember, you have to kill exactly one person during that time!"

The traitor began walking away.

"Upupupupupupu. Have you decided who you're going to kill, then?"

The traitor just smiled.

-zzz-

Mary blinked awake two hours later. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then glanced to her side.

"...good, you're okay."

She smacked Ban's head.

"Now wake up, you lummox."

Ban smacked her hand away and sat up.

"Check on master," he immediately said.

"Of course," Mary scoffed, getting up and walking to the door of the other bedroom...

-zzz-

Colette awoke. She was propped up on the wall of a building. She checked herself and sighed in relief. Then, her hands trailed to her bracelet, and she looked saddened.

"Boss... I'm so sorry..."

Tears fell from eyes, landing on the bracelet screen.

"I hope you're okay... You and Birgus... And Alicia..."

-zzz-

"Darky, it's time to wake up!"

-zzz-

Mirai awoke in his chair. He smiled.

"The killer was stupid and killed someone else. Ah well... It's time to continue the plan, then."

-zzz-

"...Darky...?"

Mary pushed the door open...

"Darky!"

-zzz-

Flash slowly awoke. He rubbed his temple.

"Falling asleep on stairs... Never doing that again..."

-zzz-

Mary hurried over to her friend's form...

-zzz-

"Eh, Birgus? You sleep well?"

Flash looked over to his childhood friend.

-zzz-

Mary shook her friend.

"Darky!"

-zzz-

Flash rubbed his eyes once. Then twice.

"Sleep's really messing with me, huh...?"

He walked over to the hammer and examined it.

"It's completely normal... A completely normal sledgehammer..."

 **Birgus's body had been battered to bits. His shell lay in pieces all over the floor, and his insides had been smashed beyond recognition. A 1 was written on the wall in his blood.**

"...Birgus... Tell me I'm dreaming, right?"

Tears began to flow down Flash's face.

"...because this is a nightmare for sure."

-zzz-

Darky swatted at her.

"It's hard waking up, Mary!" Darky whined.

Mary sighed in relief.

"You had me worried..."

Darky sat up.

"Right. Today, we find Toxic. Once we make sure she's safe, we hunt down the traitor."

-zzz-

Dream slowly awakened. His hand went to his head.

"Owowowow..."

He pulled his hand back, revealing a bit of blood.

"I really bonked my head... Owwies..."

He looked at his wrist, seeing that the timer had reset to two hours.

"I was out for that long?! Sheesh..."

He sat up, then froze.

 **Toxic lay still in a pool of blood, her entire right arm completely chopped off. Beside her, a cloaked figure lay still. The cloak on the woman's left arm was pulled up slightly, revealing her bracelet was flashing red, words running across the screen.**

Dream hurried over and checked both of their pulses.

"...they're dead..."

He fell back, his eyes wide.

"That flashing... She violated her forbidden action, I guess...? But that action makes no sense... What... What does this all mean...?"

He gulped.

"What happened exactly... While I was asleep...?"

Participants remaining: 12 of 16.

 **A/N: This chapter ended up being pretty long compared to what I had in mind! I'm happy! Hope it was surprising, even if just a little, who died X3. Note: THE TRAITOR ONLY KILLS A SINGLE VICTIM DURING THE NIGHT. At any rate, have any theories or guesses on forbidden actions or deaths or mysteries or whatever? Put them in the reviews! I like hearing your thoughts and theories and guesses. Until next chapter, bye!**

 **Next chapter: a captain must sink with his ship.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: a captain must sink with his ship.

"GODDAMMIT!"

Flash punched the wall hard, his knuckles beginning to bleed.

"That traitor... That traitor FUCKED WITH THE WRONG PERSON! FUCKING HELL! THAT LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT BASTARD! HE HIDES BEHIND A SLEEPING DRUG LIKE A COWARD AND MURDERS MY BEST FRIEND?! I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM! I'LL FUCKING TORTURE HIM AND CUT HIM TO PIECES UNTIL NO ONE CAN RECOGNIZE HIM! I'LL...

I'll...

Shit, Birgus..."

Tears rolled down Flash's face as he grit his teeth.

"I thought for sure... I would get us all out of this... Together... Shit... I'm cursing as much as Alicia..."

He went silent for a few minutes.

"This isn't the time for jokes. I'm finding Colette, then figuring out who the traitor is and killing them."

He took one last look at what remained of Birgus and clenched his chest tightly.

"I swear... No matter what... I'll avenge you."

-xxx-

Kyra awoke in the bed she had fallen asleep in. Kisuke's arms were wrapped around her protectively. She smiled and awoke him with a kiss.

"We're alive, my love..."

Kisuke instantly hugged her tighter, kissing back. He pulled away, looking down at her with relief in his eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere without my beloved Kisuke-Kun," Kyra promised.

Kisuke nodded, his face going serious.

"...do you have something in mind, Kisuke?"

-xxx-

Ban led the way through the city, having positioned himself directly in front of Darky and refusing to move.

"Ban, it's really okay..."

"If Master is ambushed, she'll die."

"But Ban shouldn't put himself in danger either..."

"I'll be fine. I won't die as long as master is in a dangerous situation like this."

"...okay."

Mary trailed after them, looking around.

"What if that guy comes after us? We'll have to run," Mary commented worriedly.

"Then we'll run," Ban said adamantly.

"We absolutely have to find Toxic. Knowing her, she'd try to protect complete strangers and get herself in trouble," Darky replied.

"Yeah... But Darky is like that too, in a way," Mary murmured.

"Right! So once we find Toxic, we can do it together!" Darky said cheerfully.

Mary laughed a little.

"But we have to be sure to figure out who the traitor is quickly... I don't want any of us to die," Mary said. "It's bad enough that two have already..."

Ban suddenly halted and blocked them from moving forward further. He placed a hand on his sword.

"Someone is here," he muttered.

Mary instantly moved in front of Darky. Darky got on guard, frowning in frustration.

Footsteps slowly moved closer to them. Suddenly, Dream turned the corner. He stared at them for a long moment, them staring back.

"...AH! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I SWEAR I'M NOT THE TRAITOR!" Dream yelled, then burst into tears. "I can't even... Get away... So... Please..."

Mary and Darky both dropped their fighting positions, sweatdropping. Ban remained silent and didn't move his hand from his sword.

"Like we would hurt some random little kid," Mary muttered.

"Who are you? Other than the cloaked people, you're the only one here I didn't recognize," Darky noted.

"I- I'm Dream... To be honest, I can't at all remember anything else before waking up here," Dream said.

"Amnesia? Poor thing..." Mary sighed sympathetically.

"If he's telling the truth," Ban said flatly.

"Wh- what? Why would I lie about something like that-"

"So you can get close to us and then murder us," Ban said, his tone gaining aggression.

"You're trying to get us to let our guard down- the poor, cute, lost, amnesiac child who we know nothing about, but really, you could be-"

"Ban, stop," Darky sighed.

Ban instantly went silent.

"It's true we have to be careful of who to trust, but we can't go about it by not trusting ANYONE. We can give him a chance," Darky said.

Ban nodded obediently, lowering his hand.

"Don't worry. As long as you're not attacking us, we won't attack you," Mary assured Dream.

"M- misses... Thank you so much!" Dream exclaimed, tears filling his eyes.

He tried to walk over to Darky and Mary, but Ban abruptly drew his sword and leveled it at the child's face.

"E- eep!"

"Keep your distance. Master trusts you, but this isn't a situation to take unnecessary chances in."

"Ban-Kun!" Mary huffed, exasperated.

"He isn't wrong," Darky sighed. "As long as there's a traitor, we all have to be cautious. Keep your distance a bit, Dream."

"O- okay," Dream whimpered.

He stepped back. Ban sheathed his sword.

"Now, we find Toxic," Darky said.

"Y- you're looking for Toxic?" Dream whimpered.

"Yes. She's a dear friend of mine," Darky replied.

"...well..."

-xxx-

Flash gripped his keyblades tightly as he walked through the streets.

"This city really seems to be abandoned... Dammit, they better not have killed everyone. I may not have liked my neighbors, but some of my friends lived here... And the innocents..."

He grit his teeth.

"That traitor will PAY... That much I swear..."

Flash shook his head.

"First... I have to find Colette. I have to at least make sure she's okay."

He cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Colette! Colette!"

"Flash!"

"...!"

Flash turned toward the voice. Alicia, Alexis, and Monica were racing toward him.

"Bae bae!"

Alicia flung herself at Flash and tackled him to the ground with a hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" She cried.

"It's good to see you too, Alicia..." Flash said. "Though I never doubted you would be fine."

"Bruh. Where the... Where are Birgus and Colette?" Alicia asked.

Flash's gaze darkened.

"Colette ran away from me," Flash replied. "And Birgus... Was the first victim of the traitor. He was alive and well before we went to sleep, but when I woke up..."

Flash shuddered and grit his teeth. The three women stared at him in shock.

"So, the crab fell first? That's too bad. However, fortune has smiled down upon me. Most of the possible traitors have gathered right up..."

Mirai stood atop a nearby building, gazing down at them with a smirk.

"It's that- that... It's that guy I hate! Let's kill him!" Alicia growled.

"Fuck no! Let's get the fuck out of here! That guy has mad sword skills!" Monica yelled, trying to grab Alicia and Alexis by the wrists again.

"Why do you consider us possible traitors?!" Flash suddenly demanded.

He hadn't moved to run nor to attack, and he didn't seem intimidated by the man at the least. Instead, he glared defiantly up at him.

"Whatever reasoning you have is invalid. None of these people beside me would kill Birgus!" Flash said boldly.

"Bae..." Alicia murmured, blushing.

"What are you doing, Flash?!" Monica yelled. "Do you want to get us killed?! Let's get the fuck out of here!"

"Answer me!" Flash barked, ignoring Monica.

"Heh..." Mirai grinned. "I admire your guts. It's a shame you could be the traitor."

"I'm not the traitor! I would never kill Birgus! He's my best friend!" Flash snapped.

"Oh yeah? Isn't that kind of thought naive?" Mirai said, his voice going cold. "You've killed plenty of people... Captain Dove."

"What?" Flash growled.

"I've done extensive research on all of you before coming here," Mirai scoffed. "And you four are amongst the most suspicious. Monica, Alicia, and Flash have all murdered many people without caring in the slightest. Not to mention the three of you, plus Colette, are the only ones among the participants to live in this city, so you would know how to pull something like this off much better than the others. Not to mention... All of you are in close proximity to Monokuma on a daily basis, with one of you even blatantly saying you're the mastermind behind him. I don't need much more proof than that to say you're suspicious... And I have my own ways of knowing things. Don't bother yourself about it- you wouldn't understand anyway."

"Damn..." Alexis mumbled.

Alicia covered her mouth, shock in her eyes.

"Why are wasting time?! Let's run!" Monica yelled in frustration.

"Except..."

Flash looked straight at Mirai.

"You've got that wrong!"

Alicia, Alexis, and Monica stared at Flash in shock. Mirai even seemed surprised.

"Hm?"

"There's a blatant flaw in your logic! Allow me to rip your argument to pieces!" Flash declared.

Mirai seemed amused.

"I'll humor you. After all, we have quite a bit of time before the next death."

Flash cleared his throat.

"While everything you said is undeniable fact... There's something more important here! And that's that, while we're all willing to kill people... We're not willing to kill our friends! Not a single one of these girls, nor I, would kill Birgus, because he's our friend!"

Flash looked satisfied once he finished.

"Bae...!" Alicia's eyes sparkled. "That was so cool!"

"Well said," Alexis smiled.

"Nyaha... Nyahahahahahaha!"

Mirai burst out laughing.

"What the... What's so funny?!" Alicia growled angrily. "Flash proved you wrong!"

Flash stared at him in annoyance.

"So naive... It's funny... Very well. Since I gave you the time of day... Allow me to present a counter argument," Mirai smirked, straightening up.

"A counter argument?" Flash wondered.

"Bae proved you wrong!" Alicia insisted angrily.

"Heh... We'll see..." Mirai responded, beginning to dig through his pockets.

"Because... After all..."

-xxx-

"H- here it is..."

Dream slowly walked them over to the two corpses. Due to his forbidden action and short legs, it had been a rather slow walk. Mary instantly looked away, sickened.

"So much blood..." She murmured.

"Mary doesn't have to come near it," Darky said as she walked over to the corpses.

Ban followed after Darky, his hand on his sword. Dream and Mary stayed back. Dream sunk to the ground sadly.

"Toxic was... Really nice to me... She helped me escape from that crazy sword guy... Without her, I would've died... She even... Promised to help me get over my amnesia..." Dream murmured.

Mary hugged him suddenly.

"It'll be okay."

Dream blinked.

"E- eh?"

"I can't stand leaving a little child in trouble, so... I'll make sure to help you," Mary promised. "And we'll avenge Toxic, too."

"Seems we won't be able to," Darky spoke up.

"Eh?"

"Seems this woman did this to Toxic, which violated her forbidden action... I think?" Darky murmured.

She held up a knife with a strange wave-like pattern. It was quite bloodied.

"This was used to kill Toxic..."

She pointed to the cloaked woman. Her cloak subtly bore the same pattern using slightly darker black than the main color of the cloak.

"And it really does look like she killed Toxic as a result... But why if it would just violate her forbidden action...?"

Darky sighed and stood up.

"It doesn't matter. Lynchings aren't worth investigating right now. We have to find the traitor."

"What about Kisuke and Kyra?" Mary wondered.

"Fox can take care of himself and his mate," Ban scoffed.

"Ban-Kun!" Mary said sharply.

"Ban is right. Kisuke ran off without us, so he can deal with it. He's with Kyra, so he won't do anything worrying," Darky said, brushing dust off of herself.

Ban smirked at Mary, causing her to smack him on the head.

"Now, how to go about this..." Darky murmured.

"Um... I think I have a clue to this mystery... I think," Dream spoke up.

"Hm?" Darky blinked.

"I found this in my pocket... I don't remember why it's here, though," Dream said, pulling a little slip of paper out of his pocket.

Darky blinked and examined it. It was a yellow paper with little pink drawings on the margins. A message was written on it...

'Come to Raikukkon today... Something special is happening~! -August 27th'

"What the hell is this?" Darky growled. "You were invited here to be killed?! Why did you come?!"

Dream flinched.

"I- I don't remember..." He murmured sadly.

"It isn't an invitation to the killing game," Mary suddenly interjected.

She rummaged in her pocket and retrieved an identical slip of paper.

"What...?" Darky murmured.

"We all have them... Everyone here except you..." Mary said sadly. "It's..."

-xxx-

Flash's eyes widened.

"Why do YOU..."

Mirai had pulled out one of the yellow invitation strips. He smirked down at Flash.

"This is my counter evidence. We're all here in the first place BECAUSE we are friends."

He placed the slip back into his pocket.

"Why do you have an invitation to Darky's birthday?!" Alicia yelled.

"Because I was given it, just like you," Mirai sneered. "I was told to come here on this date. Did you forget the reason you all gathered here?"

"He's... Right..." Flash murmured, stunned.

"Now, do you have any more evidence in your favor, mister detective?" Mirai sneered and summoned a sword to his hand. "Or are you ready to die?"

Flash went silent.

"RUN!" Monica screamed.

Nobody hesitated this time.

-xxx-

"It's an invitation to the birthday party... G was holding for you here... We all were invited because of that..." Mary said sadly.

"What...?" Darky muttered. "But it's... My... I was supposed to..."

She trailed off, her expression becoming cold.

"Darky..." Mary stepped toward her, then winced.

"Everyone was here because of me. Everyone is part of this because of me," Darky said, a dark aura surrounding her. "I caused this. I put everyone in danger. Mary, Ban, Kisuke, and Kyra... Toxic DIED..."

"Darky!" Mary yelled.

"Right, we have to find the traitor," Darky said, shaking it off. "Well, I suppose we should look around... After all, that tells us one thing."

"Hm?"

-xxx-

Swords exploded from beneath the streets, sending broken cobblestone everywhere. The ground underneath Flash, Alicia, Alexis, and Monica disappeared, hurling them up in the air.

"FUCK!" Monica screamed.

"Angel Soul!"

Flash gained his angel soul form and quickly caught Alicia and Alexis.

"Thanks, bae..." Alicia sighed in relief, then suddenly screamed. "BAE! LOOK-"

Flash turned just in time to see a blade flash across his field of vision. He dodged and felt his wing get punctured.

"GAH!"

Flash let go of Alexis and Alicia, and all three plummeted to the ground. A huge gash had opened in his right wing.

"No way... You too...?"

A pair of angelic wings spread from Mirai's back. He brandished his sword, smiling coldly.

"The next strike will be fatal."

Flash felt something nip at his back.

"Uh oh..."

He rolled out of the way, but it wasn't quite quick enough. Sword came out of the ground a slashed across his back. Flash yelled in pain.

"Bae!" Alicia yelled.

She leapt up and summoned her keyblades.

"Alicia! Let's get the fuck out of here!" Monica screamed.

"How?!" Alicia yelled back.

"Fire!"

Flash changed to his angel soul: fire form and unleashed a tornado of flames at Mirai. The street exploded with fire.

"Run now!" Flash yelled.

Flash and Alicia bolted down the street after Monica and Alexis. The ground started to burst with swords again...

"You won't escape!"

-xxx-

"It tells us that G was in the city somewhere before this shit started," Darky said, looking determined. "And knowing him... He's probably still around here somewhere. It's just a matter of finding him."

"Or he got kidnapped or whatever happened to the citizens," Mary sneered.

"Mary-san's facial expression changed so quickly..." Dream murmured fearfully.

"Cat is like this most of the time," Ban grumbled.

"I only have to be nice to people I like," Mary grumbled. "If G died, I wouldn't mind."

"Don't say that. G is alive," Darky chided. "We have to go find him."

"Then let's hurry," Mary grumbled.

At that moment, explosions of fire and swords erupted from the opposite side of the city.

"Let's search in the opposite direction," Darky deadpanned, beginning to walk.

-xxx-

"They escaped."

Mirai hovered slightly above the flaming ground. He seemed to avoided sustaining major injury, but his clothing was a bit burned. He scoffed.

"I miscalculated... Of course, that's to be expected. I'm far from perfect. Mistakes will be made. As long as I'm breathing, it doesn't matter."

A smile slowly spread across his face.

"If I wasn't entrusted with such a dire mission, I would have enjoyed that fight. I'll be sure to target them again next time."

He looked back at the tower.

"But for now..."

-xxx-

Flash gasped in pain as Alicia cast cure on his wounds. The blood slowly stopped trickling down his back, and the wounds sealed a bit.

"All better," Alicia sighed in relief.

"That shit don't look 'all better' to me," Monica deadpanned. "That's gonna be some scarring or some shit. Bruh."

"Monica, shut up!" Alexis growled.

"Too bad you can't cure the back of my shirt," Flash laughed weakly. "...this really isn't the time for jokes."

"No shit," Monica growled.

"Monica-" Alicia growled.

Monica held up a hand.

"Bruh. We gotta just calm down... Fucking hell..." Monica groaned, lowering her hand again.

Alicia responded by punching her in the face.

"Just because you can't doesn't mean I won't, you-" Alicia began, but Alexis covered her mouth.

"Just... Stop," Alexis sighed.

"What's going on?" Flash wondered. "Would you quiet down with the violence already?"

"Sorry..." Alicia grumbled, shoving Alexis off of her.

"Right. We gotta exchange forbidden actions again now that Flash is here," Monica said.

"Hm?" Flash blinked.

"That way, none of us will kill each other by accident," Monica explained.

"Ah, of course," Flash responded, holding up his bracelet.

"Aw shit. That's some hard bullshit. You won't be able to hide from that fucking psycho inside places," Monica whistled.

"Don't remind me," Flash deadpanned.

He noticed Alicia starting to fume with rage.

"What's up, Alicia?"

"Show him, sis," Alexis encouraged.

Alicia held up her bracelet and tapped the screen.

CURSE OUT LOUD.

"I was wondering what was up with your speech," Flash said. "That's heavy... Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Like he- like heck I won't... DA-"

Flash and Alexis both leapt on her, covering her mouth.

"She'll survive somehow," Alexis deadpanned. "Here's mine..."

SEE YOUR OWN REFLECTION.

"That's kind of heavy too," Flash said worriedly.

"Don't underrate yours," Alexis replied. "That's some annoying ass shit..."

"All the forbidden actions are scary AF," Monica said.

She walked over and showed Flash her own.

LAND AN ATTACK ON ANOTHER PARTICIPANT.

"So that's why you insisted on running away earlier," Flash deadpanned.

"Ehehe... Well..."

They were cut off by an announcement beginning.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE, THIS IS MIRAI ONCE AGAIN!"

"What does he want?" Flash asked, annoyed.

-xxx-

"More annoyances," Mary grumbled, looking up at the tower.

"AFTER THE TIME LIMIT HIT, THE ATTACKER KILLED THE ONE CALLED BIRGUS!"

"It's no one I care about after all. Good," Darky said coldly, beginning to walk again.

"How can you just say that?! Someone died!" Dream exclaimed.

"It's either them or us," Mary said, following Darky.

Dream stared in astonishment before trying to catch up.

"W- wait up!"

"Hurry up," Darky said coldly. "If you want to catch up, run."

Dream hesitated.

"Hm?" Darky turned to look at him.

-xxx-

Colette looked up toward the tower, frowning sadly.

"Birgus is dead...?" She murmured sadly. "And that means the captain is by himself... All alone in this kind of situation..."

She punched her leg in frustration.

"What are you doing, Colette?! The captain needs you... But... I can't help but think..."

She looked up again as Mirai continued.

"DO YOU WANT THIS SENSELESS KILLING TO CONTINUE? WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER! PLEASE, WORK WITH ME... BRING ME THE NECESSARY SACRIFICES! I WANT TO END THIS ALL!"

-xxx-

"That-" Alicia began, but had her mouth covered by Flash.

"He's one to talk about senseless killing," Flash scoffed.

"We aren't gonna confront him, are we?!" Monica gasped.

"Of course not... We have to find Colette," Flash replied, pushing himself to his feet.

"Let's go."

-xxx-

Kisuke stopped. He had been carrying Kyra on his back through the streets.

"He's back to hiding in his tower," Kyra murmured. "Should we still continue with-"

Kisuke just shook his head. He headed toward the closest house.

-xxx-

Ban continued to lead the group forward. Mary was now carrying Dream on her back to make up for his forbidden action. Darky stopped to investigate buildings now and then.

"Still nothing?" Ban asked her.

"Not even a clue of what happened," Darky responded. Then she moved on to the next building, the same cycle happened like clockwork.

"Um, Mary..." Dream mumbled.

"Hm?" Mary muttered, turning her attention to him.

"Why are you nice to me?" Dream asked.

"Eh? What kind of question is that?"

"W- well... You're so uncaring about others, especially strangers, but you just accepted me... Even when your friends didn't..."

Mary looked thoughtful at that.

"I guess I've gotten soft on kids since I had one of my own..."

"You have a child? But you're so youthful looking!" Dream gasped, startled.

"Don't remind me of that," Mary grumbled. "Yes, I'm young... Yes, I have a child... Don't pester me about it..."

"U- um... I didn't mean any-"

"He's a really cute little boy. His hair is like yours," Mary continued. "He's why I absolutely must survive this..."

She clenched her fists in determination. Dream nodded.

"I see... So, that's why Mary wants to survive..." Dream murmured.

"Ehehe, I also like living," Mary laughed. "To a fault... But I'm sure we'll be able to make it!"

"What's this?"

Darky's inquiry cut through their conversation, and they both looked up.

The group of four was stood in front of a building of about three stories. It was circular and made completely of a silver, hard metal.

Ban walked over to it and examined the side of the building.

"This isn't metal. It's some kind of special material."

"That's odd," Darky murmured.

"What?" Mary wondered.

Darky walked over to the door and tugged at it. It was locked.

"All the other buildings so far have been unlocked," Darky explained. "And this doesn't nearly fit with any other building I've seen in this city design-wise..."

"Shall I break it down?" Ban asked, already striding forward.

"Please," Darky replied.

Ban unsheathed his sword, suddenly gathering a silver energy onto it. He slashed at the door, but it retained no damage. The silver energy faded.

"It absorbed your magic. It's made to keep us out," Darky deduced.

"What do we do?" Mary wondered.

Darky smiled.

"I suppose Flash has usefulness to us after all. Let's hope he survives the next time limit."

"How about we think about US surviving," Mary complained.

Dream looked sad.

-xxx-

"Colette!"

"Colette, where you at?!"

"If you're out there, answer us!"

"Should we really be screaming so loudly?"

"You got a problem, Monica?"

"Yeah, I do!"

The other group of four was walking around the streets, looking for any sign of Colette. Alicia glared at Monica.

"What the-"

Flash hit her head to stop her.

"What is it, Monica?" He asked in her place.

"If we walk around yelling like fucking idiots, then that bastard from before will attack us and kill us!" Monica said angrily.

"We can't leave Colette," Flash replied.

"Fuck her! She ditched your ass! She doesn't want anything to do with us, since she thinks we're gonna kill her or some shit!" Monica yelled.

Flash clenched his fists.

"Shut up, Monica!" Alicia yelled, raising a hand.

"No. Stop it," Flash said, catching Alicia's hand.

He glared at Monica.

"For someone who is unable to fight, you sure enjoy provoking people. It might get you killed soon..."

"The fuck you say?!" Monica said angrily.

Flash just shook his head.

"Colette!"

"Bruh. We out of time," Alexis said.

Everyone looked to her as she pointed out the timer on her bracelet. It was steadily counting down to zero.

"Damnit," Flash growled. "We have to find her when we wake up..."

"Let's get the fuck into a house," Monica exclaimed.

The group walked over to the house nearest to them. Alicia, Alexis, and Monica walked straight through the unlocked door before glancing back at Flash.

"The fuck are you waiting for?!" Monica snarled.

"My forbidden action," Flash deadpanned. "I have to break a hole..."

"Stay outside," Monica huffed.

"What?!" Alicia yelled.

"Bruh. If he breaking shit, it's clear as fuck where we are," Monica snapped. "The attacker can find us easily! Isn't that why they killed Birgus?!"

"You-" Alicia yelled, but Alexis censored her with a hand.

"Not cool, Monica," Alexis growled.

Alicia summoned her keyblade and blasted a hole through the wall with lightning. Flash walked right through, a hurt expression on his face.

"You've doomed us all," Monica moaned, going into another room.

"Ignore her. I'll talk to her when we wake up," Alicia sighed.

Flash nodded, and then the song played. Everyone collapsed into unconsciousness...

-zzz-

...and then the attacker got up.

"Upupupupupupupu! Choose the victim wisely, and cause despair!"

The attacker smiled.

-zzz-

Flash awakened. He quickly looked around and was relieved to see Alexis and Alicia standing up as well. The timer had reset.

"Bruh..." Alexis murmured.

"No time for lazing around. Let's go find Colette," Flash said firmly.

"Yeah, yeah," Alicia groaned. "Lemme go get Monica..."

She walked over to the doorway of the room Monica was in before stopping.

"Flash... Cover my mouth."

"Huh? What is it?" Flash sighed, walking over to her.

He looked into the room.

 **Monica had bruises and wounds all over her body and a knife stabbed into her chest. A bloody baseball bat lay nearby the massive pool of blood. A 2 was drawn beside her in blood.**

"Right. I'll cover your mouth," Flash sighed.

Participants remaining: 11 of 16.

 **A/N: again, longer chapter than expected! I think they'll keep turning out long like this, which makes me happy. A few more forbidden actions were revealed... Fun! Hope everyone is enjoying the fic... If you have any thoughts in general, leave a review!**

 **Next chapter: the most horrific, malevolent, most despair-inducing malefaction in the history of Raikukkon begins!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: the most horrific, malevolent, most despair-inducing malefaction in the history of Raikukkon begins!

"Stay still... And don't talk!"

Alicia had opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again at the second line. Flash snapped at the duct tape with a pair scissors, cutting off the appropriate length of tape. He then carefully covered her mouth with it so she wouldn't be able to get sounds out.

"Thank goodness they left all these items in the houses, or else you'd have violated your forbidden action long ago," Flash sighed in relief.

Her mouth taped shut, Alicia could only nod in response. Behind them, Alexis examined Monica's body.

"Bruh... I can't make heads or tails of it," Alexis sighed. "It's up to you, Flash."

"Right," Flash nodded.

He looked over the scene of the crime for a solid fifteen minutes. Alexis began to get impatient.

"Well?!" She demanded.

"This bears similarities to Birgus's body," Flash replied. "Most specifically..."

He pointed to the 2 that had been drawn in blood near the body.

"There was a one near Birgus's..."

"I see! So the attacker is counting their victims, Birgus with a one, and Monica with a two!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Yeah... They are..." Flash frowned, something bothering him about that statement.

"And?!"

Alexis's impatience snapped him out of his train of thought.

"And?"

"What else?!"

"O- oh... There was more than one blow to the body, seemingly to make it more brutal... And the murder weapons were left behind," Flash replied.

"But... Monica was also stabbed... That I don't understand."

"You can't stab a crab," Alexis pointed out.

"Yeah..." Flash murmured. "Well, I can't figure out anything else, so we might as well high tail it."

He stood and dusted himself off.

"We have to find Colette this time."

Alexis and Alicia nodded, determined looks on her face.

-xxx-

Colette stirred from her sleep. She got up and checked herself, relieved she was unharmed. Then she looked up.

"Last time it was Birgus... This time, it could've been captain..."

She looked around worriedly.

"He could be all alone... Looking for me... What if that psychopath finds him, and...?"

She clenched her fists and stood.

"...what should I do?"

-xxx-

"Time to bag us a Flash!"

Ban, Darky, Mary, and Dream were headed away from the strange building. Darky hummed cheerfully.

"Master, can't I go alone?" Ban said uneasily. "Master shouldn't have to..."

"Then you can't protect me," Darky reminded. "You insisted we stick together so you could protect me."

"Yes, but... Cat can go do it..."

"Mary might be in danger then, and I'd be sad if Mary died."

"Cat is stinky. Okay if dies."

"Don't say that about the mother of your child!" Mary whined.

Dream listened to these conversations while clinging to Mary's back. He couldn't understand his newfound comrades. First, they were nice and accepting. Then, they callously talked about not caring if people died and tossed around life and death as if they had little consequences. Then, they didn't even care about each other's lives, then they all loved each other to death... Dream didn't understand at all! And the more he listened, the less he understood.

"What if Flash died during the time we were all asleep?" Mary wondered.

"That would be bothersome, so we'll ignore it as a possibility," Darky responded cheerfully.

"How will we even find him?" Mary groaned.

"We wait for the explosions to start up again!"

"Master will be in danger if we go toward the explosions."

"Shut up, Ban-Kun! Darky will be in danger no matter what until we solve this mystery!"

"Don't be mean to Ban, Mary."

"Master agrees that cat is stinky."

"She does not! And you're a grown man, stop acting like a five year old!"

Dream sighed again. He decided he would probably never understand...

"A- anno... If I could interject..."

"Hm?" Mary and Darky said, listening to Dream.

"Why is it so imperative that we locate Flash, anyway...?" He mumbled.

"Flash lives in this city normally, so he can tell us about that suspicious building," Darky explained.

"O- oh! I see!" Dream nodded.

"Why would Raikukkon build a magic-resistant building? And it's so different from everywhere else... And it's locked... Everything about it screams suspicious," Darky said.

"We must find Flash at all costs."

-xxx-

"We must find Colette at all costs!"

"It's easy to say that, but other people might be trying to kill our asses!"

"Colette!"

Flash, Alexis, and Alicia were searching through the city once again. Alicia had finally calmed down and removed her duct tape. She was screaming for her intern at the top of her lungs.

"It doesn't matter. Colette is in danger, and as her captain and boss, I'm responsible for her life," Flash said firmly.

"Don't you worry... I'm not like Monica," Alexis smirked. "But we should be ready, you know?"

"Trust me, I'm ready for a fight this time," Flash responded.

"Colette!" Alicia continued to scream.

"But, Monica... Do you think she's right about my forbidden action? That the killer is using it to track me and kill people? Is that why she died this time?" Flash asked in frustration.

"There seem to be less of you after each time limit."

The trio whipped around to see Mirai standing atop a building nearby.

"Found you."

"We wouldn't kill each other! Leave us the fuck alone!" Alexis yelled.

"Like I said before, your friendship means nothing in this game," Mirai scoffed. "Unless you've found new evidence since we last met?"

"Forget it, Alexis," Flash sighed. "He's right, in a way..."

"What's curious is, why has the attacker continued to target your group?" Mirai wondered. "Perhaps it's just easiest for them to attack someone sleeping nearby them?"

Flash grit his teeth, then suddenly hurled a keyblade at Mirai. Mirai blinked in surprise, summoning a sword to deflect. The trio had already taken off running.

"We don't have to fear confrontation now that Monica is dead, but we can't worry about something like that as long as Colette is alone!" Flash growled to the twins.

"Bruh. Of course," Alexis agreed.

"Surprising. You're much more aggressive this time, but it won't save you!"

Flash glanced back, seeing Mirai once again with wings. He was flying straight at them, wielding a sword.

"Heh!"

Flash stopped short, changing to angel soul: fire. Fire concentrated around his wings as he prepared a massive magical assault.

"That won't work again!"

Swords and fire exploded up into their air as both men unleashed their attacks.

-xxx-

"I'd guess he's that way," Kyra murmured, pointing to the explosions.

Kisuke nodded. He started walking in the direction, looking uneasy.

"Worried about a fight, huh...? But... We don't have a choice, if we want to solve this killing game..." Kyra murmured.

Kisuke kept walking.

"I promise it'll be okay."

Kyra kissed his cheek.

"We'll survive this..."

-xxx-

"That would be where Flash is," Darky deadpanned, looking toward the explosions.

"Danger for master," Ban huffed.

"We'll move in and observe. Find a good moment to get Flash out of there," Darky replied.

"Send in stinky cat to save," Ban said.

"Shut up," Mary grumbled. "Let's go already..."

-xxx-

"H- how...?" Flash murmured.

The sky pirate was splayed out across the street in his normal form. Behind him, Alicia and Alexis had been thrown to the ground and were lightly cut up.

"After seeing it just once before, he was able to figure out he could stop my angel soul by attacking the wings...? What is this guy...?" Flash murmured.

"Like I said, that won't work again."

Mirai had gotten grazed by the fire in a few places, but was much better off than the trio. He was walking toward them, sword raised.

"This is the end of the line for you. My apologies, but I will sacrifice as many people as necessary to end this killing game," Mirai said, striking downward at Flash to strike his heart.

Then, a keyblade spun down and hit Mirai in the back.

"Gack!"

The keyblade did a little twist and landed in Flash's hand. Flash kicked Mirai hard in the gut and leapt to his feet. Mirai crashed a few feet away.

"Alicia! Alexis! Look alive!" Flash called, jumping up.

"Right!" The twins shouted in unison.

Alicia quickly taped her mouth closed again and summoned her keyblades. Alexis looked around.

"Impressive... Back when you attacked with your keyblade, this was your purpose," Mirai mused.

He stood and took note of Alicia's makeshift gag.

"Call it a fail safe," Flash replied before shooting a blast of darkness at him.

Mirai flew up to dodge, but Alicia extended her own keyblades and blasted him with lightning.

"You can't take all of us at once!" Alexis taunted.

"Fortunately for me, lightning is my forte," Mirai retorted.

He raised his arms quickly and the lightning redirected, striking the trio hard and knocking them to the ground.

"What?!" Flash yelped.

Mirai gripped his sword tightly and flew at Alicia. He raised it over his head and slashed downwards, but Alexis managed to grab a piece of rubble and hurl it at his arm. The blow was diverted enough to just scratch Alicia's cheek, and she kicked him off of her.

"Again?!" Mirai growled in annoyance.

Flash then blasted him in the back with fire from his keyblade, making Mirai yell out in pain.

Mirai crashed to the ground while the other three leapt to their feet.

"Feh. Perhaps fighting all three of you at once was a mistake after all," Mirai muttered.

Alicia and Flash sent a combined blizzard and fire at him as he slowly stood up.

"...or I could just up my game."

Mirai smashed his fist into the ground. Swords shot out of the ground in front of the trio, forcing them to dodge. Flash and Alicia easily jumped out of the way, however-

"Kya!"

They both turned their heads to see Alexis get slashed by one of the swords. Her eyes were clamped tightly shut. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones to notice...

Mirai flew straight at Alexis at top speed, brandishing his blade. Flash quickly leapt in front of him and clashed with his keyblade.

"Alicia!" Flash yelled.

Alicia quickly raced over to Alexis and grabbed her hand. She took off running, dragging Alexis behind her. Alicia tugged off the duct tape with her free hand.

"Sis, you can open your eyes now!"

"Can she?" Mirai said coldly.

He managed to trap Flash's arms with one hand and thrust another toward Flash's face. Flash ducked out of the way, but the swords that spawned from Mirai's hand created a cut along the keyblade master's cheek. The sword hurtled through the air and nearly hit the twins, causing them to scream.

"Isn't her forbidden action something to do with that?" Mirai said coldly.

"Dammit..." Flash muttered.

"And furthermore..."

Mirai kicked Flash's legs out from under him and kneed his face as he fell.

"Alicia Simone Davis's forbidden action restricts her speech," Mirai said.

Flash froze up and was hit by the attacks in quick succession. Mirai successful sent him sprawling.

"Not like it matters that much, but it sure got you to let your guard down!" Mirai laughed.

"Dammit... Dammit... Dammit...!" Flash muttered, struggling to get to his feet.

Unfortunately, the keyblade master was too slow. Mirai's foot came down on his back, pinning him to the ground. Mirai raised his sword over his head, preparing to swing.

"You have the wrong... Guy..." Flash panted. "Do you really want murder of an innocent on your hands?"

Mirai just stared down at him solemnly.

"Groveling won't save you from me."

"I- I'm not groveling! Just think about it! Why would I-"

"Why would you kill them? I'd like to know that too. Goodbye. This is the end."

"Shit!"

Time slowed down for Flash as Mirai swung down. The sword was impossibly fast. Flash glanced around at his surroundings, but couldn't identify anything that could save him.

"Is this really... The end...?"

At that moment, Mary kicked Mirai across the face, sending him flying backward. His sword clattered across the ground.

"Why do I get all these troublesome jobs?" Mary sighed.

"Mary?" Flash muttered in surprise.

"More showed up... Such a pain, but there's always another way to do things, you know?"

Mirai shot into the air, flying right over Flash and Mary.

"Because you're bound to keep fighting if I target these two girls, right?" Mirai called.

"Dammit!" Flash yelled, jumping up. "Mary! Please help me save Alicia and Alexis!"

"Can't Alicia handle herself?" Darky said.

Darky, Ban, and Dream walked over to them, having left their hiding place.

"What are you talking about?! Alicia is in serious trouble! That guy is strong!" Flash yelled.

"We have important things to do, like discovering the killer. We need your help, and the quicker the better," Darky said coldly.

"Unbelievable! You're unbelievable!" Flash yelled angrily. "I won't help you until Alicia and Alexis are safe! Understand me?!"

He tried to shove himself up toward Darky, but Ban knocked him down again. Darky's eyes narrowed.

"...fine," she finally said. "Let's go."

-xxx-

"Alright, Alexis, I think we're safe!" Alicia said.

"Are you sure?" Alexis whispered. "You weren't right last time..."

"Well, I mean..."

Alicia glanced behind her, just in time to see a sword slam into the ground.

"Bruh. We ain't safe."

The twins were running through a new section of the city where the buildings were primarily with glass walls. Mirai was just on their tail, summoning swords up and hurling them.

"What the..." Alicia began, then shook her head. "Bruh... I have to think... Where the- where is Flash?!"

Alicia looked back to where she was running, only to notice a building looming up ahead of her. She bit her tongue hard in order to stop herself from cursing.

"What... What do... I do...?" Alicia muttered.

"Something wrong, sis?" Alexis asked anxiously.

Alexis's question was promptly answered when the ground gave way underneath them. Thousands of swords shot out from the hole, though their edges were all blunt. Alicia and Alexis screamed in pain as they were battered and hurled high up in the air. Mirai smirked.

"Now's the time! Vulpic cutter!"

Magic energy gathered in the air, and a handle formed in Mirai's hands. A weapon branched off from the handle, slowly becoming bigger the farther away it was from him. Soon, a massive sword had formed, probably big enough to slice through an entire building...

And indeed it did.

Mirai swung the massive blade, narrowly missing the twins. It vertically bisected the massive building ahead of them, sending shattered glass everywhere and sending the building toppling to the ground in pieces.

"Kamikaze!"

Mirai generated a massive gust of wind that blew Alicia and Alexis into the crashed building. Alicia desperately fended off pieces of the building with her keyblade, but then heard Alexis cry out. Alexis, still with her eyes clamped tightly shut, was getting stabbed by stray pieces of glass. Alicia bit her tongue hard and reached out for Alexis.

"Sis...!"

Then, the pieces all hit the ground.

-xxx-

"What... What WAS that?!"

Colette stared up, unnerved at the sight of the crumbling building.

"Such amazing power... No, I have to be strong right now. For the boss."

She began nervously approaching the building once again.

-xxx-

"Alicia!" Flash yelled.

"Don't be stupid!" Darky said sharply.

The group was making its way towards the fallen structure, Mary carrying Dream.

"Alicia and Alexis are in danger! Serious danger!" Flash exclaimed.

"No shit," Mary grumbled.

"Yes, but look at those spells that were used... He's wasting massive amounts of magic power, so it's likely he's getting more desperate. In addition, he didn't bother to confront us, meaning he's not willing to face too many strong opponents at once. It shouldn't be hard to outmaneuver him," Darky explained. "But we have to be stealthy, quiet, and careful. Understand me, Flash?"

Flash sighed.

"Let's just hurry..."

-xxx-

"This is definitely where he is..." Kyra murmured.

Kisuke began walking again carefully, Kyra clutching tight around his shoulders.

-xxx-

As everyone converged around the building, Mirai descended. He glanced back at his wings, then sighed.

"This is so troublesome."

Alicia and Alexis lay in the rubble of the building, badly damaged. A piece of rubble had landed on Alicia's legs, trapping her on the ground. Alicia bit her tongue hard as she struggled to move, but couldn't. Alexis had her eyes clamped shut.

"Seems I've won, though. I won't mince my words. Goodbye, Alicia and Alexis Davis."

"Alicia?!" Alexis called desperately. "Alicia, what's going on?! Alicia?!"

Alexis rolled over and opened her eyes just as Mirai stabbed. The blade landed directly in front of her face.

As all the remaining participants arrived within seeing distance of the fight, they heard a strange musical sound. It was out of place, so cheerful, so normal...

Then they saw what it meant.

 **Alexis's bangle was flashing red, her forbidden action clearly displayed on it. She had gone completely still, and her skin was unnaturally white.**

"Huh. Not even painfully? She just went to sleep? A pity. Such a boring way to die, if you violate your forbidden action," Mirai said boredly.

He walked over to the now sobbing Alicia and raised his sword.

"Die."

As Mirai swung downward, a sole figure charged across the rubble and slammed a fist into his chest. Mirai was once again thrown back. The figure quickly lifted the rubble trapping Alicia's legs and pulled Alicia to her feet. Alicia blinked in surprise.

"Colette?! What are you doing here?!"

"No time, boss! I'm glad I arrived to at least save you!" Colette exclaimed.

She quickly pulled Alicia's arm over her shoulder and took off running. Mirai hissed in frustration and prepared to run after them when a sword shot at his back. Mirai deflected it and turned. Kisuke stared him down, animosity in his eyes.

"Hey, you," Kisuke growled lowly. "You..."

He summoned up more swords and sent them straight at Mirai, who countered them with his own conjured swords.

"I don't have time for this," Mirai growled in annoyance.

"Let's go! Quick!"

Mirai noticed Darky's group hurrying after the two fleeing girls and groaned. He turned to glare at Kisuke.

"Why are you getting in my way? Do you not want to protect your wife?"

Kisuke glared in return. Mirai sighed and suddenly took off flying toward the tower, forcing Kisuke to give chase on foot.

-xxx-

"This is the building," Darky announced, stopping before the strange metal building.

"What? What are you talking about? We have to catch up to Alicia and Colette!" Flash growled.

Ban suddenly grabbed Flash by the collar of his shirt and lugged him over to the building.

"Mirai didn't follow. Your girlfriend is fine," Darky deadpanned. "We need to find out about this building. Now."

"You're as cold as ever!" Flash said angrily.

"The building!"

"I heard you!"

Flash stared at the building long and hard, then knelt down to look at the bottom of the door.

"This building didn't exist, last I checked. Something was being built in this spot... But it wasn't finished, as far as I know."

"Then it likely has something to do with the game," Darky decided.

"It definitely does," Flash replied.

"Hm? Why so sure?"

"Check this out."

Darky blinked curiously and tried to walk over, but Ban cut in front of her and knelt down by Flash. A message had been carved into the metal.

'The traitor and the mastermind are different people.'

"What is this...?" Ban murmured.

"It's a clue, that's what it is," Flash replied.

"A clue left by whoever made this building," Darky said.

"Hm?" It was Flash's turn to be surprised.

"This building can't be damaged, not even by magical means. We tried it already. Besides, it's the only building that's locked in the city... Why would that be? I'd guess the builder would know how to dent this metal, so it stands to reason that the builder is who carved this in," Darky said.

"Why would someone who built something for the game give us a clue about it?" Dream wondered.

"That's a good question," Flash sighed.

"It's possible the mastermind wants us to know... To deepen our despair or whatever," Darky grumbled.

"But that's not what you think, right?" Flash said, looking at Darky.

"Hm?"

"I can tell you don't believe in that theory. You think it's something else."

Flash stood up.

"Not that I care. I have a girlfriend to save."

"Thanks for your help, Flash," Darky said coolly.

"No problem," Flash muttered. "Listen, Darky..."

"Aye?"

"Whoever figures out the traitor first, you or me... Let's tell the other and kill them together. They'll pay for what they did to Birgus."

"...aye."

They nodded at each other, then Flash took off running. Darky checked her bangle.

"We should probably get to a house..."

-xxx-

After about fifteen minutes, Flash found Alicia and Colette leaned against a building wall. Colette seemed to have been bandaging Alicia using duct tape.

"Is that really a good idea?" Flash called as he approached.

"Bae! You took so long!" Alicia called.

She hurled the roll of duct tape at him.

"Now put some of that over your mouth!"

"Huh?"

"Just do it!"

Flash grumbled, but obliged his girlfriend. Alicia did the same to herself with her gag. She nodded to Colette, who took a deep breath.

"Boss... I'm so sorry I ran away from you earlier... I just... I didn't think I had a choice... I was wrong, and selfish... I thought of my life before yours, because I was scared. I won't hide any longer..."

Colette raised her right arm and tapped the screen.

FOLLOW AN ORDER.

Flash's eyes widened in surprise.

"You can remove the duct tape now," Colette sighed.

Flash removed his duct tape gag.

"Colette, I... I didn't know... I'm so sorry, I... I'll watch what I say from now on, and..."

"Boss, don't worry about it," Colette laughed. "I won't run off again. I want to be with you two, to survive with you two... I want to figure out who this traitor is, and give them a big punch in the gut for Birgus! So... Let's keep going, alright? No matter what happens, we'll make it through. I just know it!"

Flash smiled a little, though it quickly turned sour. He looked at Alicia, who had obviously been crying.

"Alicia..."

Alicia shook her head and removed her gag.

"Bae. Alexis and I... Barely got along anyway..."

"Alicia, it's okay to-"

"I already did," Alicia said. She looked up at him with fire in her eyes. "If I get my hand on that... That guy, or the traitor... They're dead. So let's keep going."

Flash smiled.

"Thanks to Darky, I have a good clue, but... We're out of time."

He showed his bangle.

"It would be a good idea to get settled in the place we'll be sleeping."

-xxx-

Darky's group had gotten set up in a house. Like before, Ban and Mary were in one room and Darky in another. Dream was propped up against a wall.

"Are you sure you'll be comfortable like that?" Mary worried. "Don't you prefer something else?"

"I don't remember what I prefer," Dream replied bitterly.

"Right..." Mary mumbled awkwardly.

"Hey, Mary, Ban? I'd really like it if we could all survive," Dream mumbled, smiling a little. "I'd like it... I really like you guys, so..."

"If we all survive, one of the others will die," Ban said bluntly.

Mary leaned over and smacked Ban's head.

"Let's just... Hope for the best." She said.

The timer then went off.

-zzz-

Flash watched Alicia and Colette fall fast asleep on the floor of the building. His own eyes fluttering, he could get out one last thought.

"I promise... I'll... Figure this out."

Then he too fell to the drug.

-zzz-

Kisuke slumped down against a building, holding Kyra in his arms. He looked sadly as his eyelids drooped.

"We didn't catch him, but it's okay," Kyra assured. "We'll try again... I know I won't die when I'm with you."

She leaned up and kissed him. She then rested her head against his shoulder, asleep. Kisuke's head lulled down as his eyes closed.

-zzz-

"Oh attaaaaaaaaacker! Do you know who the victim is? I think you dooooooooooooooo!" Monokuma hummed.

Per usual, the attacker had moved to look at the screen. They were smiling brightly.

"Ah, ah! What a despair-inducing expression you have, attacker! I know exactly what that means! The murder will be good this time! Get right on it, attacker!"

The attacker left...

-zzz-

 **The first thing to be seen by the awakening companions was the bloodied iron dumbbell. It was a good distance from the body and completely soaked in blood.**

 **Between the body and the dumbbell was, written in blood, a 3. The body was affixed strangely to the wall. The cords of the lamps in the house had been ripped off and used to tie the arms of the body above the head. The body itself had been battered badly, blood leaking all over the place.**

 **Flash would agree Colette's body was almost unrecognizable from the brutality of the murder.**

But instead, he just screamed.

Participants remaining: 9 of 16.

 **A/N: I'm unsure if this was a long or short chapter. Whatever the case, I hope it's the correct length for whoever is reading! Why did Alexis die? Um... I realized it would be stupid if no one knew what happened when you violated your forbidden action, so I set it up so everyone would see it happen. I also wanted to feature more than one character this chapter, so... Yeah! Her forbidden action is one of the hardest to survive, IMO, so it just makes sense for it to happen. Sorry! Thoughts, reactions, comments, to anything in the chapter? Review~!**

 **Next chapter: Super High School Level Fucked Over.**


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